New Delhi: The alleged assault of a Raj Bhavan employee by Odisha Governor Raghubar Das’s son Lalit Kumar on the night of 7 July, purportedly because the former could not arrange a luxury vehicle for his travel, has triggered a political storm in the state.
Baikuntha Pradhan, the Assistant Section Officer (ASO) employed at Raj Bhawan, had in a written complaint to Saswat Mishra, principal secretary to Governor, alleged that Kumar along with five more persons slapped, punched, kicked and threatened to murder him inside the Raj Bhavan premises in Puri on the night of 7 July.
Mishra was not available for comments despite attempts to reach him on phone.
With the incident snowballing into a political controversy, and coming as it does so soon after the first BJP government came to power in the state, damage control began Saturday. Governor Raghubar Das met Pradhan and his wife Sayoj at Raj Bhavan in the afternoon and assured the family of justice. Before meeting the governor, Pradhan and his wife also met Odisha CM Mohan Charan Manjhi.
Speaking to ThePrint over the phone from Bhubaneswar, Pradhan’s wife Sayoj said Saturday, “The chief minister had called us in the afternoon. He told us that his government will take whatever action is required and we should not worry. He only told us to meet the governor. We went to meet the governor after meeting the chief minister.”
She added that after the chief minister and governor’s assurance, the family has decided to wait and see if any action is taken against the culprits. “We will withdraw the police complaint only then,” she told ThePrint. She also said that as of Saturday evening, Odisha Police was yet to register a case or book anybody on the basis of Pradhan’s complaint.
Pinak Mishra, Puri Superintendent of Police, too, could not be contacted.
Pradhan was in Raj Bhavan, Puri, to make arrangements for President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to attend the Rath Yatra on 7 and 8 July at the time of the incident.
The Opposition Congress, meanwhile, has demanded immediate action against Das’s son. Members of the Congress youth wing protested outside the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar today demanding arrest of the governor’s son. The demand has also been raised by several party leaders including state Congress chief Ajoy Kumar.
The Odisha Secretariat Service Association, which represents government employees working in the state, has written to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi seeking justice for Pradhan. A complaint has also been lodged with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking legal action against Das’s son and police protection for the victim.
Speaking to ThePrint, Odisha Congress chief Ajay Kumar said this is not the first time that Das’s son has been accused of assault. “There have been instances in the past too,” he alleged, adding that this is the first time that a formal complaint has been made by a Raj Bhavan employee against the governor’s son.
आज जमशेदपुर में ओडिशा के राज्यपाल रघुवर दास जी के ‘राजकुमार’( Prince) ललित दास और उनके परिवार के कारनामों पर एक प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस किया।
जमशेदपुर को बदनाम कर दिया है रघुवर दास के कुछ परिवार वालों ने।
ओडिशा की जनता आक्रोशित है!@RahulGandhi @kharge @kcvenugopalmp @INCOdisha https://t.co/xWZLIIHftl pic.twitter.com/u6x26tt5pR
— Dr. Ajoy Kumar (@drajoykumar) July 13, 2024
In his written complaint to the Governor’s principal secretary on 10 July, Pradhan alleged that being the incharge of Raj Bhavan, Puri, he was there since 5 July to supervise the preparation there for the visit/stay of President Murmu on 7 and 8 July.
On the night of 7 July, around 11:45 PM, when Pradhan was sitting in the office room, the personal cook of the Governor, Aakash Singh, came and told him to meet Das’s son, who was staying in suite number 4.
“The moment Mr Lalit Kumar saw me, he started scolding me in unparliamentary language and used highly unobjectionable slang. When I objected to such humiliation, they started slapping me. Feeling helpless, I started running out of the room and hid myself behind the Annex building,” Pradhan wrote in his complaint, which ThePrint has accessed.
Pradhan said in his complaint that soon after, the two PSOs of Kumar found out his location and dragged him to his room. The security personnel and other Raj Bhavan staff present at the time witnessed the incident.
“They again started slapping, blowing punches on my face, kicking every part of my body and twisted my left ankle. Mr Lalit Kumar kept on saying that if they murder me, nobody can save me, neither the Comptroller nor anybody else,” Pradhan alleged.
He further added that though he had narrated the incident verbally to the Governor’s principal secretary the very next day at 4:30 PM, he emailed a written complaint with documentary evidence on 10 June seeking action against Kumar and his accomplices.
Jayanta Kumar Das, an Odisha-based rights activist who has lodged a complaint with the NHRC on behalf of Pradhan, told ThePrint that the family feared for their life in the aftermath of the incident. “Pradhan had reached out to me after he did not get any response from the authorities. He is afraid that he and his family could be harmed. In the written complaint to NHRC, we have sought police protection for Pradhan and immediate police action against Kumar and his associates,” Das said.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: SOP for entry, medics on standby — how team plans to inventory Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar